Sinners and Saints

Sinners and Saints Chapter 50 - You and Me Against the World

Letter translations finally in hand, I go back to work.

Bishop and Maurice have the conference room doubled, the door to our wing moved, my office moved to the back - closest to the restroom - with my own private entrance - that doubles as a way to get to my newly expanded dressing area/guest room - the camera room fully functioning and are feeding the last of the waiting area's surveys into the scanner.

"Gentlemen," I greet them, "Productive night?"

"Very," Bishop agrees, "I hope you don't mind the liberties we took?"

"Not at all," I tell them both, "Very clever, actually. Anything I should know about?"

"No - everything went smoothly," Bishop grabs his jacket, "I have a court proceeding to get to. I'll talk to you later," he winks.

"Don't I need to be there?" I ask him.

"Not right now," he tells me, "This is just seeing if there's enough evidence to proceed with the Attorney General's suit. Which, there is, of course. I'll let you know when you'll need to show up - if at all."

"Ok, get some rest," I tell him and head into my office.

"Miss Saint?" Maurice knocks on my door.

"Claire, please," I look up from logging into my computer, "What can I do for you, Maurice?"

"I - uh," he shuffles uncomfortably.

"Come in, Maurice, and shut the door," I smile at him and come around to sit in one of the chairs, "You can talk to me about anything. Is Bishop not treating you well?"

"Oh, no ma'am," he sits, "He's great. We get along fine."

"Then what is it?" I ask him.

"I think I'm the reason Sherri left," he tells me through lowered eyes.

"What do you mean, Maurice? Did something happen between you two?" I ask.

"She - uh -," he stops.

I think I know what happened already. Horny little minx.

"Did she make advances toward you?" I ask him. He nods glumly.

"Advances that weren't welcome?" I continue.

Another nod.

"Did she threaten you with your job?" I ask.

Another nod.

"And what did you do?" I ask him.

"I told her I would tell you," he replies, "Just like the video said to."

"You were absolutely right," I tell him, "And if she hadn't quit I would have fired her instantly. Which she probably knew and was why she quit. Sexual harassment - overt or covert - is never to be tolerated. You did the right thing, Maurice."

"Then why do you put up with it when you know it's wrong, Miss - Claire?" he asks, "Why do you let Michael and the rest of the managers get away with it?"

"Because," I sigh, "My jumping up and down yelling 'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore' won't do any good. I'm an outsider. Very few of you would care if Michael locked me and none of you would stand up to him to prevent it. What I'm trying to do is teach all of you that there are different ways of doing things. I'm trying to open all of your eyes so that you - collectively - demand change. I'm truly sorry for the way Sherri treated you, Maurice. But perhaps now you can empathize with the women who have been treated the same way - or worse - for thousands of years."